


Days Unnumbered

by apocalypse_coyote



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Battle of Endor, Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Getting Together, Hugs, Kissing, Lothal, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Post-Star Wars: Rebels, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, kallus did nothing wrong, kalluzeb - Freeform, our boys have a lot of feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-12-25 22:25:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18270440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apocalypse_coyote/pseuds/apocalypse_coyote
Summary: Still on Lothal after successfully chasing away the Empire, Kallus and Zeb go on a routine patrol of the city. It's a normal day... until they get the news they never expected to ever hear.





	Days Unnumbered

**Author's Note:**

> the formatting got messed up when I tried to post this so hopefully I fixed everything ~ sorry in advance

 

 

 

The news comes suddenly.

The day had started out average, routine, predictable.   
It had been 7 years since the Battle of Lothal, since the Rebels successfully ran the Imperial dogs from the beautiful planet.

 Seven long years since Ezra Bridger had sacrificed himself for Lothal, for his family, for the future.  
Likewise, it had been seven years that Garazeb Orrelios and Alexsandr Kallus decided to stay with the remaining rebels on Lothal.

 They would stay, to make sure that the Empire would know that Lothal would never be theirs to have. Lothal would never belong to their regime of death and destruction. The planet was protected by forces greater than the Empire could ever handle and they would be here as statues. As reminders of the Empire’s failures.

Until this war was over.

 So today, starts as any other.   
Two rebels walked through the market on a clear day. The sun shone brightly through the sparsely clouded sky and bathed everything in a gold hue.

The streets were busy, vibrant, and cheerful. Vendors greeted the two of them over the loud crowds. They were considered heroes despite the modest appearances and routines they kept up. The war wasn’t over but on this planet you’d never know. Here, it resembled a time from the New Republic era.

Despite the easy feeling, they were on patrol. Their daily routine of listening for any signs of the Empire, of looking for any suspicious characters, of any new faces. Also, they supposed, it wouldn’t hurt to pick up some fresh jogan fruit either.

The people here seemed carefree, but with a war still raging amidst other planets a looming air of apprehension could still be felt. Old holoscreens, projectors, and comms (picking up whatever non-Imperial news stations were being broadcast) could be seen and heard everywhere still. This was one of the only reminders of the bloody battles being  fought throughout the galaxy.

The pair of them blended into the crowd effortlessly even though their trained eyes and ears weren’t missing a single shadow as they walked down the dirt streets. An insect flew at Zeb and he reeled back dramatically as if offended by the small assailant. Kallus let out a chuckle before he could stop himself and looked at the Lesat out of the corner of his eye.

“’Great Rebel Hero of Lothal, Garazeb Orrelios, taken out by an instect’ What a great headline that would be!” Kallus joked as he continued walking. Zeb took a large step to match pace with his companion again.

“Keep it up, see where your jokes get you.”  The larger man looked over at him and scowled, arms crossed. Despite his sharp features Kallus could see the hint of playfulness in his bright green eyes.

“I think it’s one of my most charming features, actually. I happen to know for a fact that my sarcasm is one of my qualities that you like best.” Kallus smirked and chuckled again as Zeb stuttered out a response.

 “You’re a nuisance is what you are.” Zeb mumbled as he looked away.

 And then he stopped. His eyes focused on a projection screen just visible in the window of a small bar.  

 Noticing Zeb stopping, Kallus laughed  and turned to look at his partner.

 “Now, now, don’t be like that. Besides I – “ Kallus trailed off as he heard a scream from down the street and turned his head towards the noise.

Suddenly the commotion grew. Everyone started screaming… or so he thought before he registered the noise as cheering. His confusion grew and he took a step closer to Zeb, reaching out before he even looked.

“Zeb we should see what-“ And as Kallus turned to look at the man he reached  for, his eyes caught the screen instead.  

 A large explosion could be seen in the sky of an unknown planet. The picture quality was fuzzy as if it was being jammed by something. He heard someone yell from somewhere inside the bar.

 “The Empire has fallen!”

 His heart stoped in his chest as the words registered meaning. He forgot what breathing was and his vision grew dark. Within moments he was on his knees, could feel the sun baked ground under his legs.

 Zeb is drawn out of his shock by the commotion beside him. He shook his head as he saw the man kneeling beside him on the ground. Kallus’ face was paler than usual, and his eyes were unfocused. He swayed gently before Zeb was on his knees next to him and pressed a sturdy  to his back for support. The world around them disappeared as Zeb focused solely on the one person who had stood by him through it all for the past near decade.

 “H-Hey Kal! Kal!” Zeb yelled as he grabbed Kallus’ face by the chin and forced the other man to look at him. “Come back to me.”

As if summoned Kallus blinked and stared back a moment before he gasped a deep breath and choked. He lurched forward onto his hands and continued to draw in deep breaths as he coughed air back into his lungs. Zeb rubbed circles into his back.

“That’s it, you’re fine Alex, just breathe…” Zeb whispered.

 Several long minutes passed before Kallus sat up and turned toward Zeb. His mouth was parted slightly and he was visibly trembling all over. And when those honey eyes looked up to meet Zeb’s own, he saw an expression that he had never seen on the other mans face. Disbelief, fear, excitement, and… longing. How this one man could convey so many emotions just in his eyes was something he would never get used to. And suddenly those eyes looked down at Zeb’s mouth.

Zeb’s entire body suddenly felt like he had been thrown back onto the cave on Bahryn, it felt like all his blood had been replaced with ice. The thought of the way Kallus had looked with his face illuminated by the meteorite they found on the moon crossed his mind. That was the first time he had really looked at Kallus. He remembered it like it happened yesterday. It was the day he thought he probably fell in love.

And then he looked down at the peach lips that faced  him. His hand came to rest on the sharp jaw beside them and he bent closer. And they stayed like that for what felt eternity, like time had stopped to rest on that single moment. They breathed the same air in silence, Kallus still inhaling a little too quickly.

“Garazeb… I-“ Kallus began to talk but was quickly cut off as Zeb finally pulled him forward by his jaw and slammed their lips together.  

Kallus all but whimpered and completely melted, in response Zeb swallowed heavily. They stayed like that for a long while, lips pressed desperately together. The feeling was the most unreal thing either of them had experienced in all their lives, and they had both experienced a lot. If the force was real, Zeb had thought, then this is the closest he would ever get to it.

When they parted lips Kallus pressed his forehead against Zeb’s. They opened their eyes to stare at each other, almost too close to focus.

“They did it.” Kallus whispered almost inaudibly with the chaos and cheering going on around them. They both had completely tuned it all out.

“No. We did it. The Rebellion… all of it…” Zeb smiled.   
“Alexsandr, you’re finally free of the Empire.” He added, remembering all the times in the past years that Kallus had woken up terrified, screaming from nightmares. The Empire would come for him, drag him back to hell in his dreams. In reality it was an anxiety constant in the back of his mind and the manifestation of that left Kallus with reoccurring night terrors.  

Kallus launched himself at the other man. He wrapped his arms tightly around his neck and buried his nose into the grey fur on his shoulder. Zeb wrapped his arms around Kallus and pulled him close. He was surprised to feel water drop onto his neck, quickly realizing that Kallus was crying. He moved a comforting hand to his neck. He was surprised to feel tears begin to stream down his own cheek as well, the overwhelming emotions getting the best of him.

“All those records are gone, you’re no longer a traitor… they aren’t coming for you. For us. We did it Alex, we did it…”

Kallus let out a deep sob and Zeb kept his grip tight on the other man.

Zeb had been waiting for this moment forever. This war had kept him from ever wanting to act on his feelings for Kallus. They were soldiers carrying out their mission and adding attachment would only complicate things. He had many talks with Kanan over the years about attachment, the Jedi code, what it meant to form relationships with others. They had talked about how becoming a family had changed them all for the better. And then when they had lost Kanan and he had seen Hera suffer he vowed that he would never put Kallus through something like that. Kallus had similar feelings and had lost so much already that he was so scared of losing something too good to be true.

It had been hard. They had made a home together here on Lothal and it had been a constant debate with themselves to not run into each other’s rooms and pull the other close. Occasionally Kallus had fallen asleep on his shoulder on the couch. Sometimes they would touch a little too long as they brushed by each other. They would silently stare at each other across the table as they listened to holos about new rebel intel. It felt like they could have an entire conversation without using words.

And mostly Zeb and Kallus pretended not to notice as the other would stare just a little too long when one of them stepped out of the refresher. They knew the feelings were mutual, anyone around them could feel the atmosphere between them.

But they were soldiers.   
It couldn’t work. It wouldn’t work.

But now… Kallus was in his arms, real and alive.

Zeb’s heart skipped as he felt the hot breath on his neck. Kallus was in his arms like he had daydreamed about every day for a long time. This was never supposed to be real. They had assumed this war would last their whole lives or would take them first. This unimaginable outcome though… everyone they’d lost, every single thing they had lost, it was all worth it. This world was safe from an evil without bounds.

Kallus lifted his face slightly to rest his cheek against Zeb’s. His lips brushed against Zeb’s ear.

“Garazeb, I love you.” He heard Kallus whisper. The words sounded strained, like it was painful for Kallus to say them.

Shocked, Zeb grabbed the other man by the shoulders and pushed him away just far enough to look at his face. Kallus looked a mess. His face was red and splotchy and his eyes were screwed together tightly while tears still managed to drip from them. Zeb had never seen anyone more beautiful in his life.

“Alexsandr, love will never be a strong enough word to describe the way I feel about you..” Zeb sighed deeply and wiped a tear falling down Kallus’ cheek.

Kallus opened his eyes slowly as if he had expected to wake up from a dream. His eyes searched Zeb’s for something, disbelief evident on his face.

“W-what… but you… after everything I did to you, to your people. I know you forgave me years ago but. I don’t deserve you Garazeb. I must pay for what I did. Protecting Lothal was the beginning of that, but I have so much more I need to do to repay for my crimes. I-“ he nodded frantically and stared at the ground in front of him.

“Kallus it’s gone. The records. Your name. Agent Kallus of the Empire is erased. I forgave you years ago, and I’ve loved you for just as long.”

Kallus looked up at him and stared with wide eyes.

“You- since when?”   

“The day you officially defected. Probably since before then. Probably the day I found out you were Fulcrum.”  Zeb looked away as if he was embarrassed.

As if just realizing Zeb had also been crying, Kallus lifted his hand and rested it on the fur on Zeb’s cheek.

“I did it all for you. You made me realize. You didn’t have to save me that day, or the times after that.. I realized everything I was ever told and believed about the universe was wrong.”

He leaned forward and kissed Zeb’s cheek, catching a tear between his lips.

“Karabast I think I’m dead.”

Suddenly Zeb’s commlink buzzed from his belt.

“Zeb! Zeb are you there?” Sabine’s voice shouted through the speaker. He grabbed the receiver and held the button down to respond.

“Yeah Sabine, we heard. It’s over now.” He dropped his hand and looked around them.

People were hugging, jumping, cheering. There was crying, laughing, relief washing over everyone and everything. Kallus smiled as a vendor near them ran up to them smiling.

“Looks like we did it boys!”  He waved as he continued to run down the street.

“What do we do now?” Kallus asks softly as he watches the man disappear into the crowd.

“I’m sure there will be plenty left for us to do here on Lothal… but after that I have a few ideas of my own for us.” He contemplates and Kallus smiles the most genuine smile he’s ever seen on the other man.

“Us?” He smirks.

“I hadn’t planned on seeing this day, so I never imagined a day I’d have to leave your side. That isn’t something I want to happen now either though. Of course, Kal- us. Together.”

Kallus beams and places another kiss on Zeb’s lips. Zeb focuses on how soft his lips feel, the electricity burning from them, how he never wants to stop kissing this man.

“We had a bet going about you two, looks like I was right.” Someone joked as they walked  by and Zeb couldn’t help but smile as he felt Kallus’s grin against his lips. They pulled away and Kallus bit his lip and chuckled. Zeb thought about how he wished his teeth were worrying Kallus’s lip instead.

“Why don’t we go home for now?” Zeb suggested. Kallus looked up at him and nodded.

Zeb stood up first and reached for Kallus’s hand to help him up. Instead of letting go after steadying himself Kallus laced their fingers together. He began walking towards their home, through the crowd, tight grip pulling Zeb along with him.

Zeb was the happiest he had ever been since his childhood, Kallus couldn’t ever remember a time where he was ever happy like this.

“I could die right now.” Zeb said with a large smile that was all teeth as Kallus looked back at him over his shoulder. 

“Don’t die now love, we’ve only just got our lives back.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this. It’s my first time posting something to AO3. I’ll probably write a sequel to this that’ll be a lot less pg-13. Also, I don’t have a proofreader or anything and I type a lot on my phone as a way to de-stress before I go to sleep… so sorry if anything seems off. I tried, heh. 
> 
> I started re-watching rebels and I just adore Kallus and Zeb so much.


End file.
